


Continuum

by MykaWells



Category: Warehouse 13
Genre: Day of the Dead, Gen, dia de los muertos, season 4 canon compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-07
Updated: 2014-04-07
Packaged: 2018-01-18 11:42:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1427203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MykaWells/pseuds/MykaWells
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Myka and Claudia investigate a mysterious ping in a small Mexican town during Día de los Muertos. As is usually the case in these matters, things don't go as planned, and Claudia ends up having a heart to heart with someone she least expected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Continuum

**Author's Note:**

  * For [soprano193](https://archiveofourown.org/users/soprano193/gifts).



> The assignment that I got in this prompt was a neat challenge, because it paired me with only one of my holidays and one of my people: Claudia and Día de los Muertos. I realized that I might not be able to indulge my usual Bering and Wells shipping tendencies for this, so I thought it would be fun to try my hand at writing a totally canon (through the end of season 4) gen fic. I also love the Claudia and Myka friendship and thought that there's not nearly enough fic out there that addresses that relationship in detail. There's also a healthy dose of other friendships here too, because I love all of the relationships in this show. 
> 
> Oh, and this is a long one. I would normally post it over the course of a few chapters, but, because this is a ficathon, all 10,000 word are in one chapter. 
> 
> Thematically, this is somewhere between a General and a Teen rating, so I put Teen just to be safe.
> 
> I hope you enjoy it!

“Claudia!”

Artie’s voice jolted Claudia upright in her seat. She was sitting in Artie’s office at her computer, and she may or may not have dozed off while revising a particularly mundane bit of code for a system upgrade of the second computer in the office. Artie had put his computer strictly off limits unless Claudia wanted to do the gooery by herself for the next three months, which was so something that Claudia planned on avoiding.

“Not sleeping,” Claudia mumbled as she sat up and wiped what definitely was not drool from the corner of her mouth.

Claudia spun the chair around to face Artie, who stood at the table behind her desk. He let a thick manila folder drop with a muffled thud on the table. He raised his eyebrows and shook his head as he walked around the table to his computer.

“You were snoring,” he said in that grumpy amused way he had reserved just for Claudia. “You people need to realize that deciding to pull an all night Halloween party does not mean you get to sleep on the job the next day.”

“But, I, we’re not doing anything,” Claudia said as she leaned her head back and spun in her chair. Artie had just bought her a brand new one to keep her from spinning around on his. “For world saving work, this job can get really boring.”

“Well, you’re in luck then,” he said as he typed something into his computer and continued staring at the screen. “Because we have a ping. That’s why I woke you.”

“Sweet! Where we jetting off to?” Claudia asked as she crossed the room and leaned over Artie’s shoulder to see what he was reading.

“Mexico,” Artie said, turning around in his chair to talk to her only to realize that she was right behind him. He started back and made a motion with his hands to shoo her away. “I wish you would stop doing that.”

“Can’t be helped old man, one of those gifts that comes with being the baby caretaker around here,” Claudia said. “Mrs. F. says I’m going to get even better at it once the regents make it official.”

“Oh joy, I can’t wait,” Artie grumbled as he got up from his seat and walked back across the room to the stack of papers he’d dropped on the table.

Claudia followed him and stood across the table as he looked at the map he had unfolded. She might have all the caretaker info downloading into her brain or whatever, but Artie would always be in charge of this office, so Claudia knew there were limits to the amount of sneaking up she could get away with.

“Whatcha looking at?” Claudia asked. Like most Warehouse maps, this one was really old. “Majorly old artifact at work here or what?”

“I don’t quite know yet,” Artie said. He shifted the map to get a book it had been resting on and flipped through it. “There have been three unexplainable deaths during the Día de los Muertos celebration in one town over the past three years. All the bodies were found by the gate of the cemetery. The most recent body was found this morning.”

Claudia shivered.

“Sounds more like a creepy serial killer than artifact to me,” Claudia said.

“Trust me when I say it’s a ping,” Artie said as he closed the book. “And even if it’s not, you get your free trip to Mexico, and I get a nice, quiet office.”

“If you say so,” Claudia said. “So who’s my partner in crime?”

“Hey, what kind of crimes are we committing in here?” Pete asked as he entered the room and took a seat on the comfy chair he’d insisted on putting in the office. “Another one of those nefarious hacking schemes of yours, Claude?”

Steve, who entered a few steps behind Pete, smiled and shook his head.

“They’re not nefarious. They’re even sort of legal,” Claudia said.

“Don’t need me to tell you that’s a lie,” Steve interjected.

Claudia rolled her eyes. Sometimes having the human lie detector as a best friend was cool, but other times it could be a little annoying.

“Fine, everyone knows about my shady dealings, but seriously man. It’s always for a good cause,” Claudia said. “And there’s no hacking today anyway, just a ping down in Mexico.”

“Sweet!” Pete said as he raised his hand. “I volunteer. I totally volunteer.”

Artie frowned at him and shook his head.

“You’re not going, Pete,” Artie said as he walked back to his desk. Both Pete and Claudia followed him. “I’m sending Claudia and Myka.”

“Do you really think Myka should be out in the field?” Pete said. “I mean, that’s a long trip, and she’s just getting back to full speed after the surgery, and I totally know at least ten Spanish words.”

“So you know your numbers then?” Claudia asked.

“Yeah, but I also know,” Pete paused and trailed off for a moment to make a calculations. “More stuff too.”

“It’s already been settled,” Artie said as he shifted some papers around on his desk. “Myka has been cleared for field duty for two weeks now, and she speaks nearly fluent Spanish. Claudia goes because she hasn’t been out lately and she’s been hovering around my computer too long. I’m afraid she might take it apart if I keep her here much longer.”

“Not fair, man,” Pete whined. “If we based it all on who spoke the language best, it’s always gonna be Myka. She knows, like, all the words ever.”

“Well, you do know more klingon than Myka,” Steve added helpfully. “You’ve at least got that going for you.”

“Pete’s surprisingly impressive knowledge of languages invented for TV shows and movies is beside the point,” Artie said. “I need to get Claudia and Myka on the plane as soon as possible or they won’t get there in time to investigate and snag the artifact.”

“But, I—

“Pete, do you want to flush the gooery for me while they’re gone?” Artie asked.

“Not even a little bit,” Pete said.

“Then no more complaining about who gets to go to Mexico,” Artie said, then turned to Claudia. “Go get Myka from the archive room and tell her its time to get going. And take these files for the two of you to read on the plane.”

He held out two thick manila file folders for Claudia to take, but she folded her arms over her chest and raised her eyebrows. If she was going to be caretaker around these parts, she had to work on that intimidating eyebrow, and she’d recently started using it when Artie bossed her around.

“Fine,” Artie said, rolling his eyes. So the intimidating thing was still a work in progress. “Please go get Myka and read this on the plane.”

Claudia snatched the two files from Artie and hurried off to get Myka.

* * *

By the time Claudia and Myka landed in Mexico City, it was late afternoon. Claudia had read the file over because it occasionally helped to know stuff and was a good way to pass the time. Of course, Myka read it through twice on the six and a half hour flight, and she was brimming with enthusiasm.

Aside from some background on the origins of Día de los Muertos, the file had been profiles of the victim and reports on the circumstances of the three deaths. They were all relatively young, between the ages of 28 and 41, and showed absolutely no signs of illness or poisoning. It appeared as if they had all just dropped dead at the threshold of the gate. Artie had found the pattern when the system detected a steady increase in energy from the small town about 45 minutes outside of Mexico City.

“It’s really fascinating,” Myka said as she pulled out of the car rental parking lot. “Don’t you think?”

“Hmm?”

“The holiday,” Myka said. “Día de los Muertos. Don’t you think?”

Claudia shrugged and rubbed her hand over her eyes as she suppressed a yawn. She was still exhausted from the all night Halloween celebration that she’d thrown the night before. It had consisted of no more than dressing up in silly costumes and watching gory horror movies, but it still meant that Claudia, Pete and Steve were operating on little to no sleep, while Myka and Abigail were probably working on about five hours. Claudia had gotten some rest on the plane, but not nearly enough.

“Yeah, it’s great,” Claudia said.

Myka glanced over at Claudia, but apparently decided not to comment on the lack of enthusiasm. Myka sighed and turned back to the road ahead. A few seconds of silence passed. Claudia knew Myka well enough to know that she wanted to talk, was itching to talk shop on a case, because this was only Myka’s first major mission, second overall, in the months since her surgery. Myka would never ask to talk, because Myka just never seemed comfortable asking for what she needed out of people, but Claudia knew. Maybe it was that weird caretaker instinct starting to kick in, but she knew that Myka needed to get back into field mode.

“So,” Claudia said as she rested her head against the window of the car. “Any ideas on what’s causing these problemos?”

Myka hesitated a fraction of a second to glance sideways at Claudia, and Claudia could just barely see a smile flicker across Myka’s face.

“Not sure,” Myka said. “I think we should check out the gate and fence around it. Maybe they touched some part of it coming and going from the cemetery. I can talk to some of the locals if you want to give it a spray.”

“Sounds like a plan to me,” Claudia said. “But what are you thinking about the artifact maybe being part of one of these shrine things they have going?”

* * *

  
Myka and Claudia spent the rest of the ride talking about the case. They worked well like this. Claudia loved Pete, and Jinks would always be her bestie, but pairing with Myka was a nice change. Claudia admired Myka’s particular brand of badassery, the blend of professionalism, intelligence, wit, and insanely good marksmanship with pretty much any projectile, and liked to pick up little bits of that when she hung out or worked with Myka.

Myka in turn gleaned information from Claudia‘s own unique blend of badassery that included, but wasn’t limited to, her ability to hack everything and anything. Myka was getting pretty good too; with a few tips from Claudia, she’d managed to hack Pete’s facebook account and post half a dozen Shakespearean insults as his status updates. Definitely not what Claudia would have done with that golden opportunity, but it was so very Myka. Claudia and Myka had their own distinctive styles, and they worked well together because of it.

For example, Myka had her plan about the gate and talking to locals, which was a good one, but Claudia was more in favor of hacking any digital records the town might keep and running a search for anything on the victims.

Myka, however, pointed out that the small, relatively rural town might not have extensive digital records, and Claudia’s attempt to get into the system as they drove there proved just that. All Claudia was able to find were birth and death records, so she agreed to Myka’s plan to interview locals and family members of the deceased and then check out the gate.

They checked in at the tiny inn as a pair of sisters visiting the town for a day because Myka had been pen pals with the first victim and wanted to celebrate Día de los Muertos in his honor. Myka made small talk with the old lady at the desk, or at least what appeared to be small talk to Claudia. The woman bought the story, and smiled kindly as she handed Myka the key to their room.

While Claudia dropped her go bag in the room and did another quick search of the artifact database on her laptop, Myka changed into clothes that looked less government agent and more American tourist with baggy enough clothes to hide the mini-tesla.

By the time they hit the streets, it was a little after 4:30 pm. The woman at the inn had told Myka that the family would most likely be at the cemetery for the celebration, which meant they would have to go through the center of town. It was only about a quarter of a mile down the main road though, and the weather was nice, so Claudia and Myka opted to walk.

Because the streets were crowded with people and decorations, it was slow going as they moved towards the cemetery.

“See,” Myka said as she put her sunglasses on and looked around the street at the combination of bright colors and stylized skeleton decorations. There were lots and lots of those skull things. “Isn’t this great?”

“It’s definitely,” Claudia started, then ducked out of the way of life-sized skeleton decoration that had been decked out with a big, bright hat. “Interesting.”

Myka looked over at Claudia and grinned, a slow growing smile.

“Oh my god, are you scared of these things?” Myka asked, gesturing to the skeleton.

“No, not really,” Claudia said weakly. “Not scared. They’re just, they make me nervous.”

Myka laughed as they continued to move down the street.

“You watched three of the _Saw_ movies last night,” Myka said incredulously. “And this stuff makes you nervous?"

“I’m just, I have a thing about skeletons,” Claudia said. “Blood and guts don’t bug me really, because the horror movies is all escapist type stuff for me. The huge, _colorful_ skulls and skeletons though, they’re just kind of creepy and unnatural.”

“I think it’s beautiful, the celebration,” Myka said, tilting her head to look at Claudia for a second before looking straight ahead, towards the cemetery that had just come into view. “I mean, death, it still sucks and it hurts, but this, it makes it a little less scary, I think. The way they understand death, like its part of life, on a continuum, but not in those words exactly. This really is a celebration of these people’s lives. I know that’s what the file said, but to feel it, I think that’s pretty neat, don’t you?”

“Yeah, it’s pretty festive,” Claudia said. “I’ll give you that.”

Claudia wasn’t sure what else to say, because it was kind of unsettling to hear Myka talking like that. Myka’d always been one to enjoy learning about other cultures, but the fact that she was so enthusiastic about a holiday literally called ‘day of the dead’ did not set well with Claudia, particularly since Myka’s brush with cancer. Claudia couldn’t manage to feel much besides unease and anxiety when it came to anything having to do with death.

They walked another minute or so, Myka taking in the small town festivities, Claudia doing her best to keep her head down as much as possible until they arrived at the cemetery. The place, though still a super creepy cemetery was bursting with color and life. Bunches of flowers and colorful decorations adorned the graves, and people were starting to set out candles. If it weren’t a cemetery, Claudia would have found it beautiful.

Myka found the family by an elaborate altar at the mouth of the entrance. As inconspicuously as possible, Claudia slipped behind Myka and the family as they spoke. She first inspected the area around the iron gate for anything unusual and artifacty looking. As the caretaker in waiting, Claudia was pretty good at that. Nothing pinged her spidy sense though, so she took out her pocket spray bottle of neutralizer and began spraying here and there on the gate and fence, hoping for a spark. Nothing. She turned and saw that Myka had been pulled into conversation with another family, presumably the family of another victim, so Claudia proceeded with the plan.

She did a check of the fencing around the cemetery, walking the perimeter just inside the cemetery and keeping her eyes on the waist high barrier. If nothing turned up, Claudia planned to start inspecting the altars for anything out of place.

Claudia made it to the far back corner of the graveyard without finding anything out of the ordinary. She sighed and took out her cell phone to check the time. The sun was starting to wane, so they probably only had about an hour of daylight left. Almost on instinct, she scrolled through her contacts and hit dial.

“Hey, Claude,” Jinks said. “How’s the investigation going?”

“Not bad, if not bad means I have no clue what I’m looking for,” Claudia said as she paced a few steps to her left. “Anything going over there?”

“Artie’s been looking through the database,” Jinks said. “He can’t seem to get anything solid on what might be causing it. He’s found a few skull artifacts though.”

Claudia gave a short laugh.

“Gonna have to narrow it down there, Jinksy,” Claudia said.

“We’re working on it,” Steve said. Claudia heard some papers rustling in the background. “Can you hear all that work getting done?”

Claudia smiled down at her shoes and kicked a bit of grass. Steve could be a goof, but he was always good at being a little silly at just the right time.

“Well, I don’t want to interrupt men at work,” Claudia said. “Just thought I’d check in.”

“Alright,” Steve said. “Be careful.”

“M’kay,” Claudia said. She paused, her eyes still on the ground. “Love you, Jinksy.”

“l love you too," Steve said, hesitating before he continued. "But is everything ok? You seem kind of off.”

“Hey can’t a girl just show her bestie some love?” Claudia replied. The false cheerfulness rang hollow in her ears as she knew it would in Steve’s.

“Claudia…

“Ok, fine,” she said. “It’s just, I’m in this cemetery, with all this talk about death, and it’s just put my head in a weird place.”

“You want to talk about it?” Steve asked.

“Not really,” Claudia said. “I’ll be fine, I swear. Just as soon as I get out of here and get some sleep, because I’m seriously deprived right now.”

“Alright,” Steve said, though he didn’t sound entirely convinced. “Call me if you need anything, ok?”

“Will do,” Claudia said. “Bye, Jinksy.”

Claudia hung up the phone and slipped it in her back pocket. She shivered, a strange coldness rippling quickly through her bones, a chill that had crept under her skin while she spoke with Steve. This graveyard, particularly this solitary, bare part of it, gave Claudia an unsettled feeling, made her think and feel a really strong, vibrating echo of all of the things she'd thought and felt after both Steve and Leena died. Something was off. It was an artifact. It had to be.

At the same moment that the thought struck her, her eye caught on what looked like a polished white stone set at the base of the nearest headstone, one with fewer decorations than the other gravestones. The headstone was plain gray, so the strange white accent stuck out. Claudia couldn’t take her eyes off of it. Still transfixed, she took out a pair of gloves from her pocket, pulled them on and reached out to touch it.

Warmth flowed from her fingertips, up her arms, and into Claudia’s chest. She closed her eyes as she let the heat spread slowly throughout her body. It felt like the warmth was in Claudia’s blood, and spread more with every heartbeat. She no longer felt the lingering, building dread, the chill in her bones. Claudia smiled as she continued kneeling in front of the grave.

She heard soft footsteps coming up behind her, at a regular pace, but with purpose, as if looking for her. Claudia figured it must be Myka coming to give an update. She started to take off her gloves, ready to tell Myka that she’d cracked the case. But, as Claudia stood up and turned around, she realized that it wasn’t Myka. Claudia’s hand went to her mouth and she inhaled sharply. Her brain could only manage one word.

“Leena?”

* * *

Myka ended her conversation with the very kind and generous families of Rodrigo Tavares and Maria Perez with no more information than she’d started. All she’d been able to learn was that Rodrigo had been a respectful young man who had died suddenly on one of his favorite holidays, and that Maria died just as suddenly the year before he did.

As she watched the families return to their celebration, Myka turned around to look for Claudia, but couldn’t find her. The light was starting to gray in the way it does right before sunset, so even with the light of candles that people were starting to set out, it was hard to see.

Myka slowly, quietly walked the perimeter, as she knew Claudia planned to do, keeping an eye out for perhaps the only redheaded girl from South Dakota in the small Mexican town. It shouldn’t have been hard, but Myka was having no luck.

Then she spotted Claudia kneeling on the ground, with her back to Myka and facing a very sparsely decorated gravestone at the back of the cemetery.

“Claudia,” Myka said as she approached. “Have you found something?”

When Myka saw Claudia’s face, her breath caught and she dropped to her knees to grab Claudia by the shoulders she looked directly into Claudia’s blank, listless stare.

“Claudia! C’mon,” Myka said as she gently shook her. “Snap out of it.”

Unsurprisingly, the command did little to break what appeared to be Claudia’s artifact induced trance.

Myka’s eyes darted all over the place, trying to latch onto any single thing. Claudia had only one of her gloves on, while the other lay on the ground next to her. She’d seen something, must have, because Claudia didn’t put her gloves on unless she absolutely needed to. The artifact had to be nearby.

Myka looked wildly around, but there were so many things in this cemetery. There was no way she could go around neutralizing everything. Besides, there was probably more than one harmless artifact at a celebration as powerful as this one.

Myka reached in her back pocket, pulled out the Farnsworth, opened it, and hit the dial button. It rang twice before Pete’s face came onto the screen. Myka didn’t wait for a greeting.

“Pete, we have a problem.”

* * *

Claudia took a small step forwards and stared shamelessly.

“Leena?” she repeated, for lack of any other words coming to mind.

Leena inclined her head, a soft smile on her lips.

“Hi Claudia,” she said. Her voice was so real and wonderful and surreal in Claudia’s ears that she could barely stand it. Claudia didn’t care that it wasn’t possible, that Leena couldn’t be here, because there she was. Claudia worked in a place that couldn’t possibly exist, so why couldn’t the spirit of one of her best friends make a very real, very surprise visit? If Steve could be brought back from the dead, why shouldn't Claudia get a visit from Leena?

Claudia lunged forward and wrapped Leena in a tight, real, warm hug. She was almost surprised that she hadn’t gone right through Leena, that she appeared to be solid, save for a soft airiness around the edges that could be felt more than seen.

“I miss you, Leena,” Claudia said, her throat tightening against the words she wanted to say. “We all miss you a ton.”

Leena pulled out of the hug and held Claudia at arms length. She smiled calmly.

“You’re doing great though,” she said. “Your aura is more balanced than I’ve ever seen it.”

Claudia swallowed back the tears that she absolutely refused to let fall.

“Still doesn’t mean I don’t miss you,” Claudia said.

“I know,” Leena said sympathetically. “Come sit with me and I’ll explain everything.”

* * *

“Wait, she’s what?”

“She’s completely dissociated, Pete,” Myka said impatiently as she turned the Farnsworth so that Pete could see for himself. “See? She’s catatonic. You guys have to have something, right? Anything associated with cemeteries. It’s not the gate, because she wouldn’t have come all the way in here if she didn’t have to.”

Pete looked off to his left and shook his head.

“Just a really long list of vaguely related stuff,” Pete said. “Artie just disappeared into the archives a few minutes ago. I’ll run and get him.”

Pete hurried off, leaving the Farnsworth open on the desk. Myka sighed and bit her lip as she looked around. She looked at Claudia, then away again and sighed.

“Oh, Claudia,” she said quietly.

Myka crouched down to pick up the glove Claudia had dropped on the ground, and ended up at eye level with the strange small white stone. Myka pulled the glove on, and, without being conscious of doing it, she reached out to touch it with her gloved hand. It was warm, unusually warm, and that seemed to snap Myka out of her trance. She pulled her hand away from the stone as if burned.

“Myka? Myka!” Pete’s voice came through the tinny speaker of the Farnsworth. Myka had unwittingly set it on the ground next to her feet.

“I’m here, I’m here,” Myka said. “I think I found it. I don’t have any idea what it is, but I think I found it.”

“Show me,” Artie said, pushing his way into the frame. “And tell me everything.”

Myka showed him the stone, the grave of a Ramon Bermudez, age 86 when he passed three years earlier. There was no epitaph on the grave, and the white stone, resting on the ground beneath his name, birth and death dates was the only bit of decoration.

She explained everything, recounting every single detail that she could remember. From the moment they arrived in town, to the hypnotic quality of the smooth white oval, to the warmth and calm that would have been tempting had Myka not pulled her hand away.

“Based on what you’ve told me, I have a theory,” Artie said. He disappeared from view for a moment, then returned holding a book open in front of him. “It sounds almost exactly like the effects of the bones of Mictecacihuatl.”

“Micte-who now?” Pete asked.

“She’s a mythological figure from Aztec lore, believed to be queen of the Underworld,” Artie said as he kept looking at the book.

“Yes,” Myka said quickly pointing at the headstone as all the information flooded to the front of her brain. “And many scholars believe that Día de los Muertos has its roots in Aztec festivals dedicated to her dating back several hundred years. It makes perfect sense.”

“Exactly,” Artie said. “Warehouse 10 collected most of the bone fragments, but there were a few small bones missing. Usually, the artifact creates a sense of longing to see someone who has died when you’re near it, and a sense of warmth and closeness once you touch it. Problems come up when someone touches it too often, or during events when spirit energy is suppose to be highest. Then, a person can go into a trance, and will have a nearly irrepressible urge to remain in the spirit world, Mictecacihuatl’s underworld. When they make that decision, the earthly body dies at what this book calls the threshold of life and death.”

“Threshold of death sounds pretty cemetery gate-ish to me,” Pete said. “So we’ve got our artifact, then, right? Why are you shaking your head like that Artie?”

“There is one detail that doesn’t make any sense,” Artie said, looking up at Myka and narrowing his eyes. “Unless…

“Unless what, Artie?” Myka demanded.

“Usually touching the bone during the height of Día de los Muertos, even with gloves, will put someone into this trance. It says here that,” Artie looked down at the book and read directly. “According to legend, only those who've had death in their lifetime have the power to resist the lure of Mictecacihuatl.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Pete said. “Claudia’s had people die in her lifetime. Hell, she was basically the life source for a dead guy for weeks. Shouldn’t she have been able to resist if this is part of the lady god’s skeleton?”

Myka grimaced and closed her eyes for a moment, bracing for what was going to come next.

“I don’t think that’s what he means,” Myka said. “He means that you need to have been technically dead for some length of time.”

“Wait, Mykes, are you serious?” Pete said incredulously. “Are you seriously telling me that you’ve died?”

“I,” Myka started, looking to Artie, who looked a lot less surprise than Pete by the development, though the man was naturally less demonstrative. “I guess, technically. It was only for a minute, probably less.”

“When?” Pete demanded.

“Is that really important?” Myka asked. “We have a catatonic Claudia here.”

“Yes, it might very well be,” Artie said. “It could help to know the exact nature of your experience.”

“It was, it was during my surgery for the, to check for the cancer,” Myka said.

“You said that it went well!” Pete said. “Why wouldn’t you tell us something like this?”

“I said it _ended_ well,” Myka corrected. She’d resorted to play on words to trick Steve’s lie detector. “And I don’t think I was ever in any real danger.”

“For Christ’s sake, Myka,” Pete said. “Flatlining in surgery is kind of the definition of real danger. I know we all almost get ourselves killed on a pretty regular basis, but actually doing the thing is kind of a big deal. You really should have told us.”

“Things were kind of busy with Paracelsus and Claudia, then Claudia’s sister,” Myka said. “We just got the sister thing figured out a month ago, and everything ended alright for me, so I really don’t see why I need to tell anyone.”

“But Mykes—

“Now, _this_ is not helping Claudia,” Artie cut in. “Yes, Myka, you should have told someone, but at least we know now. You can have this conversation later. Once we figure out how to fix this mess.”

With that, the matter was put to bed for the moment. Myka swallowed and nodded.

“So we know what the thing is then,” Myka said. “Now how are we going to fix it?”

* * *

Claudia had been sitting on the stone bench by the back of the cemetery for who knows how long, just listening and soaking it in as Leena talked about everything, about things that only Leena knew. Claudia did her best to focus on the words that Leena spoke, but just the fact that Leena was speaking at all was almost too much to process on its own.

“But you’re ok, though, right?” Claudia asked. “You’re not hurt or trapped in purgatory or anything?”

Leena smiled calmly and tilted her head as she rested her hand on Claudia’s hand. Everything about Leena had always been so calm and quiet and steady, and not even death had changed that.

“I am more than ok,” Leena said. “I exist in a very peaceful place. I experience time so differently now. It’s freeing to simply exist and experience the world as it happens.”

“So, you do then?” Claudia asked. “Experience the world?”

Leena nodded.

“Because we don’t have time the way you do, I get to see a lot more,” she said. “I’m keeping an eye on all of you, you know.”

“C’mon, you’re watching us all the time?” Claudia said. “Because sometimes that’s like the most boring reality TV show ever. Just this morning, I fell asleep in Artie’s office and maybe drooled on my own keyboard.”

Leena smiled.

“Sometimes I do switch the channel to keep an eye on Mrs. Fredric,” she said. “I’ve finally figured out how she suddenly appears and disappears.”

“Dude, seriously? You’ve got to tell me, because I’ve been trying,” Claudia said. “And I’ve only gotten moderately better at sneaking up on people. She’s like the master.”

Leena looked sideways at Claudia, then out at the cemetery.

“All good things in time,” she said.

“Hmm,” Claudia replied. She hesitated then asked. “What is the deal with you and Mrs. F anyway? Is she like your mother or guardian or something?”

“Or something,” Leena said. She turned to face Claudia and smiled mysteriously. “Mrs. Fredric and I do have a…unique connection.”

“Well, for starters, you’re both super mysterious and evasive,” Claudia said. “Sounds a lot like a family trait to me.”

Leena laughed.

“Speaking of family,” she said. “I hear you have a sister.”

“Yeah, sort of,” Claudia said. She looked down at her feet as she swung them back and forth. “I mean, like, you probably know, we thought she was an evil world destroyer, but it turned out to be more of an H.G. type situation. So, yeah, sort of a would be world destroyer, but not so much the evil kind, because she went out of her way to save me. Which is weird for me, cuz I want to like her or hate her, and I can’t really figure out how to do either one.”

“Things are rarely that simple,” Leena said. “Even with an average sibling relationship, sometimes you love each other and sometimes it’s harder. Look at you and Pete. Even you and Joshua.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Claudia said as she cracked a smile. She sighed. “This is really nice, just hanging out, talking to you. I don’t even care how or why it’s happening. I just want it to stay like this forever.”

For the first time in their conversation, the smile around Leena’s eyes faded and she took both of Claudia’s hands and looked directly at her as if something urgent was just occurring to her.

“I think I understand it now,” Leena said.

“What? What do you understand?”

“You need to fight that feeling, Claudia,” Leena said. “The artifact that brought you here, it makes you want to stay. That feeling is going to become stronger, but please try not to get too comfortable.”

“But you said this is a good place, being here, wherever you are,” Claudia said. “Why can’t I just stay too?”

“It’s not your time, Claudia,” Leena said. “The moment before I died, I knew, I could feel that it was my time with as much certainty as I know that this is not your time.”

"But--

“No,” Leena said. “You are going to become the caretaker of the Warehouse, and you will be a great one, but not if you give up to hang out here with me. This space that we’re in, it’s not sustainable. It exists between life and death, and you will have to make a choice soon. So I want you to try really hard to ignore that feeling. Enjoy my company while waiting for the opening to go back, but please try, Claudia. At the very least, for the Warehouse, because it will miss you if you choose to stay.”

“Ok,” Claudia said, her voice small, a lot more like a little kid than a soon to be caretaker. “I’ll try.”

“Then you will succeed,” Leena said. “Because I’ve never seen you fail.”

Claudia smiled and blushed as she looked off into the cemetery. She was just now realizing that there were no other people around in this version of the cemetery, and, despite the passing time, it was still twilight.

“You’re pretty awesome yourself,” Claudia said. She paused for a second. “You know this whole thing is pretty ironic.”

“How so?”

“This morning, even this afternoon, I was scared of death, literally petrified of the thought of me or someone else I love dying,” Claudia said. “And now here I am it this really great, peaceful space, wanting nothing more than to be with the dead.”

“Things are rarely as opposite as they seem,” Leena said. “Even life and death have a complicated relationship with one another. Those two feelings do not have to be mutually exclusive. You can have an impulse to avoid the pain that comes with death while also recognizing that it exists as a part of every soul’s existence, and that what comes after is not the end in the way that the living understand ends and beginnings. Life and Death exist on a continuum.”

Claudia sighed.

“Man, you and Myka are sounding an awful lot alike,” Claudia said. “And I’m not sure how I feel about that.”

“Myka has had a unique experience of death,” Leena said. “My guess would be that she’s had a glimpse of the kind of knowledge you get when you pass.”

“What are you saying? Are you saying Myka’s died? Is she ok now?” Claudia asked, wishing she could pile those questions on top of one another. The revelation and the anxiety that it provoked dulled the compulsion to stay just a bit.

“She’s fine, and it is her experience to tell,” Leena said. “You’ll have to go back to ask her about it. She told Pete and Artie after you came here. You wouldn’t want to be left out, would you?”

The suggestion was a little bit tempting to Claudia, but the playful smile as Leena raised her eyebrows was equally compelling. It was just so easy to be here in Leena’s company when she hadn’t been in so long. Then she realized that leaving meant she would likely not have this opportunity for the rest of her life, and that was not helping Claudia to keep her promise that she would at least try to go back to her body.

“It’s getting harder though, Leena,” Claudia said. “I really want to stay. How much longer do I have?”

“I don’t know,” Leena said. “But if it’s getting harder, that probably means the time is coming to make your decision. You’ll feel an impulse to go to the gate of the cemetery, and you have to cross the threshold to go back to your body.”

“What do we do until that happens?” Claudia asked.

“We wait,” Leena said as she smiled knowingly. “And you’re going to tell me all about the things you plan to do as the official caretaker of Warehouse 13.”

* * *

 Myka had been in the cemetery for hours. She’d managed to quickly bag the bone fragment and had the sealed pouch tucked into the pocket of the zip up hoodie. She had both hands balled into fist and stuffed into those pockets as she stopped pacing and sat back down on the ground next to Claudia.

Myka hated this. She hated just waiting for the thing to play out, but that’s the only way Artie said it would work. Neutralizing bag and neutralizing goo, for all the sparks she got, had done nothing to snap Claudia out of her bizarre trance. They just had to wait for time on what Pete called Claudia’s ‘free trip to Mick’s place’ to run out and Claudia made her decision. Artie seemed to think she might be able to hear or sense the outside world right before making her decision as she stood at the gate, but not until then. So Myka waited.

Myka sat cross-legged on the ground next to Claudia. She watched intently for any more signs of movement, signs of life, but got nothing. Claudia’s hands remained resting limply in her lap and her eyes remained staring straight ahead.

Myka sighed and reached out to rest her hand on Claudia’s. She held Claudia’s hand for a long moment, hoping that human contact might somehow anchor her, remind her it some distant, indiscernible way that she had people who care about and need her.

Myka jumped as if stung when her Farnsworth, set right next to her on the ground, started with its jarring, metallic vibrations. Myka quickly answered.

“Do you have something?” Myka asked as soon as Pete showed up on the screen. “Does Artie have any idea when she’ll come out of it?”

Pete frowned and shook his head.

“Nothing much,” Pete said. “Although he seems to think it should be soon based on the fact that she last called Steve about fifteen minutes before you called here.”

“How’s Steve doing with all this?” Myka asked.

“He’s,” Pete looked around then back at the screen. “He’s Steve. He’s been in the library up to his armpits in books on Aztec deities, trying to find something to do to help. You know, he’s quiet like usual, but really super intense. Scary focused, like hasn’t said more than a few words if it doesn’t have to do with something he’s found.”

“Yeah, I can understand that,” Myka said. “Research makes everything feel better.”

“You _would_ say that,” Pete said as he rolled his eyes. “Research helps fix things, but it definitely does not make everything better, because I can tell you for a fact that it made my high school experience a lot worse.”

Myka smiled.

“Well, I, for one, think there is value in knowing things,” Myka said. “I’m a lot more comfortable knowing than I am not knowing.”

“That, I get,” Pete said, then added pointedly. “I am definitely a fan of knowing things. Of people telling me things, important, life altering _things_.”

“Pete, I—

“I know, I know, you didn’t have to tell me anything,” Pete said. “It’s your right to keep your near death experiences to yourself, I guess. But I really wish you wouldn’t.”

“I know, Pete,” Myka said. She looked just to the right of the Farnsworth, away from Pete’s earnest gaze. “I get it. I’m, I just didn’t want to worry anybody.”

“That’s, Mykes, you’ve got to realize that you’re worth worrying about,” Pete said. “And I’m gonna worry anyways because you don’t tell us these big, monumental things unless you have to. I mean, who knows what else you’re dealing with all on your own?”

Myka felt the corners of her eyes prick with unshed tears. Sometimes she forgot, not that Pete cared, but how much he cared, and the way he cared. She was still getting use to having that kind of family, the kind of people that never asked Myka to fix problems on her own, the kind of family that _wanted_ to help.

Myka nodded. She glanced over at Claudia, as had been her habit for the past few hours.

“I know, sometimes I just forget, fall back on old habits, I guess,” Myka said. “I, the flatlining, it wasn’t necessarily something I struggled with though.”

“Hmm, how’re we figuring that?” Pete asked suspiciously. “Because it sounds like something that might stick with a girl.”

“It did, I mean, I don’t remember everything,” Myka started, grasping at the right words to describe her experience. “There was just a new sense of perspective. The only way I can describe it is as this split second of blinding clarity, which, I mean, not even that makes sense. Then I was back, and a little bit of it sort of lingers.”

“Whoa,” Pete said. “Sounds like some seriously mind altering, come-to-Jesus type stuff you have going on in that big brain of yours.”

Myka looked off to her right again, towards a small altar with a few candles, then quickly back to Pete.

“Not exactly a come-to-Jesus moment. My priorities didn’t shift and there was no miraculous revelation. It’s just…different,” Myka said. “I can’t find the words for it.”

“Then there probably aren’t any, because you would definitely know them words,” Pete said.

Myka opened her mouth to protest that knowing most words did not mean she could put them together properly, but closed her mouth again and smiled at Pete.

“Thank you,” she said.

“For telling you that you know all the words? Because I’ve told you that before, and I’m pretty sure I’ve been punched at least once for teasing you about it,” Pete said.

“No, not for that,” Myka said. “Just…thanks for being you.”

“Aw, let’s not get all sentimental on me, now Bering. I love you as much as the next---

Pete’s words fell off as a sudden, jerky movement Claudia’s arm caught her attention. Then her leg twitched.

“Uh, Mykes—

“Yeah, I see it,” Myka said as she watched Claudia slowly rise. Her stare was still blank, but she was moving. Claudia was walking directly towards the gate of the cemetery.

“I’m going to get her back,” Myka said as she set off after Claudia.

* * *

It wasn’t enough time. Not nearly enough time. That’s all Claudia could think as she moved towards the gate. Leena was still there, but she could feel her grip on this place fading. She was starting to feel her body in ways that she hadn’t before. There was a chill in the air now that hadn’t been there before. The quiet was giving way to indistinct background noise, and all Claudia could think was that there wasn’t nearly enough time left.

She wanted desperately to stay, and even though she had the benefit of knowing that that feeling was created by an artifact, it was no less real. Leena walking alongside her with her calm aura and her gentle smile was too welcoming to leave. As much as Leena insisted it wasn’t, leaving felt like abandonment.

And then they were at the gate, and that was even more petrifying, because there was nothing on the other side. It was completely black.

“I can’t Leena,” Claudia said as she looked into the darkness. She started to take a step back, but Leena pressed a hand to her back so that Claudia would stay put. “I can’t see anything. I’m not going into some black hole void when everything is perfectly comfortable here.”

“It’s an illusion, Claudia,” Leena said. “It’s there, I promise you. Myka is there on the other side. She’s waiting for you.”

“Please, Leena, don’t make me,” Claudia said. She could here the unnatural panic in her voice, but could do nothing to stem it.

“I can’t make you do anything,” Leena said. “I never could. But I can tell you that you belong on the other side. You have to go.”

“Can you come with me?” Claudia asked. She knew the answer as she asked the question, but she asked anyway.

Leena shook her head.

“I belong on this side,” she said. “But this side isn’t so disconnected from over there. I’m always around. You can go back knowing that with absolute certainty, and that’s a gift Claudia. A gift not many people get.”

“But, I—

Claudia shook her head started to try another step away, but Leena held her hand firm against Claudia’s back.

“Listen,” Leena said, her voice sounding strangely wispy like it was drifting away on a breeze. “Myka’s talking to you. Listen to her. I want you to close your eyes, keep them closed, and listen to her. It will anchor you.”

Claudia closed her eyes against the black void in front of her. She bit her lip and tuned her ears to the rustling background noise that had been increasing in volume, though not clarity. It was remarkably like tuning a radio. First the white noise, then white noise that sounded like something human, then a crackly voice, snatches of a few words here and there. Then the full, crisp audio. Myka’s voice.

…But don’t do it just for that,” Myka was saying, a sense of urgency that was controlled enough to be just short of panic. She must have seen the two steps back.

“The Warehouse will miss you, Claude,” Myka continued after a pause during which Claudia thought she might have dropped the signal. “You belong with the Warehouse. You belong with us, at the B&B. C’mon, Claudia, you’re the only one that can give Pete a run for his money in his ridiculous pancake eating contests, and I know that’s a stupid example, but it, just, things won’t be the same without your ridiculous eating contests and video game tournaments and the prank wars.”

The more Claudia listened, the easier it became to hold the signal, to keep Myka’s voice from fading out.

“I know it’s probably really nice there, but please Claudia,” Myka’s voice cracked over the last few words. “Please, Claudia we need you here. Please stop walking away from me.”

“You hear that, right?” Leena’s voice said in Claudia’s ear. “You can hear her talking to you?”

At that point, something in Claudia knew that Leena wasn’t fully corporeal anymore. Claudia fought the very real urge to open her eyes and check.

“Yeah, I can hear her,” Claudia said. “She’s talking to me about the B&B.”

“Good,” Leena said. “Now I want you to take a step.”

“But—

“Claudia.”

Claudia took a small step.

“Now another.”

Another small step and Claudia felt herself at the very edge of the blackness, at the threshold of the gate.

“Now, I need you to jump,” Leena said. “Hold on to Myka’s voice and jump.”

“Leena?”

“Yes?”

“I’m going to miss you,” Claudia said. “And I really, really don’t want to do it.”

“I know, but I’m always around you. Remember that,” Leena said. “Now I need you to jump. You’re running out of time.”

“I wish I could give you one more hug before I left,” Claudia said.

Then Claudia felt arms around her, a warm, calm, softer than human, embrace that emboldened Claudia. She kept her eyes closed and hugged back. Inhaling deeply as the smell of Leena’s fresh baked cookies drifted by on what felt like a sudden breeze.

“Will that do?” Leena asked.

Claudia’s arms lingered around Leena for a moment before letting go. She opened her eyes for just a moment and was surprise that Leena was there. She was fading, but she was there.

“Yeah, that helps,” Claudia said.

“Good,” Leena said, smiling affectionately. “Now I really need you to close your eyes.”

Claudia sighed and did as she was told. Myka’s voice was still in her ears, the volume on low, but clear as day and came into even sharper focus when she closed her eyes.

“And I need you to jump,” Leena said.

Claudia held her breath, bent at the knees and lept as far and hard as she could into the waiting void.

* * *

 It wasn’t so different from jumping into a pool, Claudia thought. The moment of floating breathlessness, then the slow drifting downwards.

Then, all of the sudden, it wasn’t like that at all. As if sucked back into reality, Claudia lurched forward across the threshold, landing hard on her hands and knees as she took big, gasping breaths like the wind had been knocked out of her.

It was dark, almost as dark as the void had been, but Myka was there. She could hear Myka by her side, then she could feel Myka’s hand on her shoulder. Then the light of the moon and the stars and a few candles left lit overnight in the town square came into focus. Claudia was still catching her breath by the time she saw Myka drop down on her knees in front of her.

“Claudia,” Myka said. Then she was kneeling in the dusty dirt holding Claudia. “You’re back. You’re back.”

Claudia didn’t think she’d ever be able to pinpoint exactly why she started crying at that moment. It might have been overstimulation or grief or exhaustion or relief, or maybe some weird mixture of all of them. Regardless, Claudia cried like she hasn’t in a long time, and Myka didn’t say a word about it, just held her as they sat on the ground just outside a Mexican cemetery in the middle of the night.

When Claudia did stop crying, Myka pressed a kiss on the top of Claudia’s head.

“It’s a lot, I know,” she said. “Are you ok?”

“Yeah,” Claudia said as she rested her head on Myka’s shoulder and closed her eyes.

After she said that, a gently breeze started up, and Claudia was certain that she could smell oatmeal scotchies. Claudia lifted her head off of Myka’s shoulder and inhaled deeply.

She smiled broadly and nodded at Myka.

“I’m way more than ok.”

* * *

 All of the excitement of Claudia’s evening coupled with the sleep deprivation meant that Claudia passed out exactly two minutes after she and Myka got back to their room. She slept for what must have been about 12 hours, and Myka let her even though it meant they overstayed checkout and had to pay for two days at the inn.

They were just able to catch an afternoon flight back to South Dakota, and Claudia slept even more on the plane. It was only the light, almost sleep that Claudia usually got on planes, so she was still aware enough of her surroundings that she could feel Myka’s eyes on her.

“You’re staring,” Claudia said without opening her eyes.

“No, I’m not,” Myka said. Claudia didn’t need Steve to recognize that lie.

“Yes, you are,” Claudia said as she raised her eyebrows without opening her eyes.

“Watching, maybe, but not staring,” Myka said.

“Because watching someone sleep is _so_ much less creepy than staring while they sleep,” Claudia said.

She cracked a smile and opened one eye to look at Myka. Myka was, in fact, looking at Claudia as she absently toyed with the small painted skull decoration that Claudia had bought for Myka before leaving town.

Myka didn’t appear at all embarrassed at being caught. She actually smiled at Claudia as she put the skull back in her jacket pocket.

“I’m glad to have you back,” Myka said. “I was just admiring how strong you had to be to do…what you did.”

“Well, I mean, if I could’ve just kept my hands to myself,” Claudia said as she opened her eyes. “It probably wouldn’t have been necessary.”

“That wasn’t your fault, Claudia,” Myka said. “It’s a really strong artifact under those circumstances.”

“Yeah, but you somehow managed to snag it without falling into some in between spirit place,” Claudia said.

Myka hesitated and sighed as she looked down at her hands. Then Claudia remembered what Leena had told her, about Myka’s experience with death. With all of the readjusting to reality, Claudia’d forgotten completely until this moment.

“Is it because you’ve technically died before?” Claudia asked.

Myka’s head snapped up and her eyes met Claudia’s.

“How did you—

“A caretaker has her ways,” Claudia said as she raised her eyebrows and tilted her head towards Myka.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you guys after it happened during the surgery, but I—

“It’s ok, Myka,” Claudia said.

“Really?”

“Yeah, really,” Claudia said. “I get why you kept it to yourself. Maybe I wouldn’t have 24 hours ago, or even when I was talking to Leena, but I understand now. It’s pretty impossible to explain what it’s like after the fact, and it kind of doesn’t feel like something anyone else would understand. If you want to tell me, you can. If that's something that helps, then I'm all ears. I'm just saying I get why you might not know where or how to start.”

Myka grinned and just looked at Claudia.

“Ok, you’re staring again,” Claudia said. “What's up with the staring?”

“Because you’re a remarkable person, Claudia,” Myka said.

Claudia felt her cheeks go pink, as they usually did when someone paid her that kind of compliment.

“Thanks, Myka,” she said. “I think Pete was totally right the other day though. You’re getting to be kind of a softy in your old age.”

“Soft? My _old age_?” Myka scoffed. “Oh, he is _so_ getting punched for that. See how soft and old he thinks I am when I kick his ass.”

Claudia smiled as she rested her head back on the headrest.

“Well, you have my blessing as caretaker in training to use the rest of this flight to think up new and creative ways to kick his ass,” Claudia said, and smirked as she added. “Just as long as you don’t stare at me while you’re doing it.”

Myka laughed.

“I guarantee I won’t disappoint.”

Claudia closed her eyes, a smile on her lips. She rested her hands in the pocket of her zip up hoodie and ran her fingers over the skull she’d bought for herself, similar, though not identical to the one she'd bought for Myka.

As Claudia drifted off to sleep, her last thought was that Leena had been right after all. Being here, as part of this goofy little Warehouse family, was exactly where Claudia belonged. And the fact that she now knew she had a sorta guardian angel on her side? That was definitely an added bonus.

**Author's Note:**

> I'd love feedback on this thing that I've created here because it is so very different from what I normally write. 
> 
> Also, I've been right on top of this fic for the past few days, so I've kind of lost all perspective on it. Feedback would definitely help me to regain some of that perspective.
> 
> Thank you for reading!


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